Dear Neighbors,
I recently discovered something interesting about North Rosslyn that affects the
Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay and I thought you might want to hear about it.
I am a sixth-grader at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington County, and
for our last science project of the year, we are doing a Watershed Action Project, where we learn about our watersheds, and then we test water in our school's watershed (Four Mile Run stream system) to find any problems. We then have to "Take Action", and
make people aware of the problems and how to solve them.
For my action project, I researched extra information about Arlington's subwatersheds at www.arlingtonva.us (searching "watershed"). I made bookmarks to explain
the importance of protecting our watersheds from storm water runoff. I also collected
bags and donated them to the local dog park so people could properly dispose of their pet waste. But the most surprising thing that I learned was where the storm water runoff
goes from my part of Colonial Terrace.
First, I found an online map of all the streams, culverts, buffer zones, streets, etc. Culverts are streams detoured into a pipe underground. Buffer zones are areas of natural plants that can help filter the pollution from storm water. I was interested in seeing the stream that took all of my sub-watershed's runoff into the Potomac River.
I located one of the streams nearby my house, in the torested area along Lee Highway and Oak Street. It looked like no one had been there for a long time except for one homeless person's encampment and lots of trash. It was very overgrown with kudzu and other vines. The only birds that were there looked thin, bedraggled, and sick. Think
of having to live on that polluted water to stay alive! The pool was a milky, murky,
greenish color with an oily sheen. The banks were steeply eroded from too much storm
water coming too fast. I was shocked, so I took some pictures. I was determined to do
something about it.
Also online was a map of all the sub-watersheds with a key that showed which
ones have been studied to see if they need to be helped by treating the storm water before putting it into the river. Our part of North Rosslyn had not been studied yet, and I wondered why because that area was such a mess! I wanted to do something about it.
This is where you all come in. I want the North Rosslyn Civic Association to help
advocate for the study to be done and help the residents develop habits that help our
watershed I noticed that a lot of the residents living here have paved in new driveways
that used to be grass. Instead of paving, I suggest gravel or grass so that the water can soak in instead of running off into the stream, taking sediment and pollution with it. I have also noted that a lot of lawns look like they havhave been sprayed with chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Sometimes there is also litter in the streets, and no one picks it up Also, to all the pet walkers: PICK UP YOUR PET'S WASTE!!! If you don't,someone might step on it or it will get washed away into the stream where the fecal coliform bacteria will poison fish and humans.
I hope that everyone will do their part to solve this watershed problem. If
someone could contact Arlington County and suggest that they study our sub-watershed,
that would be great! Thank you for everything you do to help our neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Johanna Klein

Locating and trying to improve our local natural watershed -- what an excellent project!

I think stormwater from Georgetown Vista (where I live most of the year) also drains into the deep gully that Johanna describes so bleakly. I support her suggestion that we, NRCA, support stewardship/restoration action for our local watershed.

Mark Antell
from Grecia, Costa Rica